Sonic Adventure 4: Final Chaos
by Ayla Skyrider
Summary: The sequel to SA3! Sonic and co. are off to rescue Shadow, who seems to be under the control of a deadly and dangerous man... will they manage to pull it off? Will things ever be the same again?
1. Chapter 1

Sorry to keep you waiting for so long! Here at last is the continuation to SA3! If you're confused, check back to the story "Sonic Adventure 3: The Return" for details on events which already happened. Just search the boards for that title.

Enjoy!

* * *

The _metiyas_ of the army looked at him with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and relief. Slowly, reluctantly, they put down their weapons. Hashlar's army quickly gathered them up and had the _metiyas_ at spear- and sword-point.

Five minutes later a trumpet blew, and the gates opened once again. But this time, no army poured out, but an entourage. Armed humans surrounded a thin man as they marched out of the fortress. The man wore ornate robes and had an awful smirk on his face, like one who knows he has triumphed easily. Sonic and Gabriel realized this must be Hashlar.

Behind Hashlar, guarded by heavily armed _metiyas_, were the raiding parties, along with Retio and Saermore. All looked defeated, but were staring murderously at something behind Hashlar.

The group stopped at the edge of the battlefield. The guards before Hashlar parted, and Sonic and Gabriel slowly stepped forward.

Hashlar stroked his beard thoughtfully.

"Gabriel. I never thought you'd be the leader of a revolution. I didn't know you had the gall to do such a thing. Fortunately my loyal servant informed me in time of your plans."

Gabriel stiffened, resisting the urge to respond the Hashlar's taunts.

Hashlar looked slightly disappointed when Gabriel said nothing, but continued almost gleefully.

"My loyal servant is someone you know."

Sonic looked up as Hashlar stepped aside.

There behind him was Tails.

Sonic felt his heart drop out.

"No..."

But there it was.

Many of the _metiyas_ shouted in anger. A few made violent gestures toward the traitor.  
Hashlar looked infinitely pleased with himself.

"So you do know him? That is good. Blame him all you wish. He did it of his own will. Right Tails?"

Tails nodded.

"There you have it. Now, were there any other leaders here? Answer me now!"

Sonic stepped forward.

Hashlar studied him. "Ah... yes, Sonic the hedgehog... what a surprise... taking after your father in suicidal missions, I expect."

Sonic flushed a deep red.

"Sorry to say this. At least you have been honest with me. But for participating in this uprising, all of you... must _die_."

There was complete and utter silence at this pronouncement.

But the silence was broken...

There was a horn call not too far away. Then there came the sound of many, many feet running.

"Freeeeeeeeedommmmmmmm!" came the call. And over the hill behind Hashlar's army came thousands of _metiyas_, all shouting and waving weapons as they ran or flew.  
In the front of the army, running the fastest, were Knuckles and Chaos Zero!

"Freeeeeeeeedommmmmmmmm!" came the call again, and the new army surrounded Hashlar's army.

"Surrender!" shouted Knuckles. The call was echoed by thousands of voices.

The captured _metiyas_, taking advantage of the complete confusion, snatched their weapons back, further encouraging Hashlar's army to surrender.

Seeing that they were outnumbered, Hashlar's army slowly put down their weapons and raised their hands in defeat. A loud cheer rose from the other _metiyas_, and they shook their weapons in triumph.

Hashlar himself looked utterly astonished at the sudden turn of events. Around him, his guards surrendered and the groups he had captured now ran free, all except Tails. He stood still and silent, as if not sure what to do.

Something within Hashlar snapped. His plan had been working beautifully up until now, this one thing that his servant had failed to inform him of!

He screamed with rage, drew his sword, and leapt forward - mostly. He turned to see Tails holding onto his arm, dragging him back. Furiously he stabbed him, and Tails fell away, bleeding badly. Then Hashlar gave another scream of madness, and charged.

For Sonic, time seemed to slow. He could see Hashlar running straight toward him. One swipe of that sword sent him down with a deep gash in his back. He hit the ground hard.  
But that was not Hashlar's true intention.

His course sent him straight into Gabriel. With one last cry of rage, he thrust his bloody sword straight into Gabriel's heart.

"**_NO!_**" cried Sonic, as Gabriel crumpled to the ground like tissue paper. Resisting the pain, Sonic forced himself up. Filled with deep anger, Sonic ran directly at Hashlar. With all his strength, he brought his fists down on Hashlar's head.

Hashlar stood there for a second, and then slowly, very slowly, toppled over backwards. He was out like a light.

Sonic stood there for a minute, panting, then staggered over to his father's side.

"Dad... Gabriel... don't worry... everything's going to be fine..."

Gabriel smiled weakly. "Don't try... to tell me that..." He coughed up blood.

Sonic's eyes filled with tears.

"I guess... it's the end... of the road... for me..." He paused, gasping.

"Don't," said Sonic. "We'll get you back to the base... you'll be okay!"

"You won't make it in time... I just want to tell you... I'm glad I lived long enough... to have known... you."

He stopped and closed his eyes. Then he opened them again and whispered, "Never... forget..."

Then he sighed and lay still.

Sonic could not say a word. For a long time Sonic sat and was silent. The other _metiyas_ said nothing and let him be. The bombs in Hashlar's fortress were in the meantime ready to blow now that there was no one to stop them. Hashlar was bound and gagged (a little more securely than was necessary, perhaps) and put none too kindly in the back of a wagon the _metiyas_ had used for carrying supplies. Tails no one seemed to want to talk to, but they bound his wounds and left him near the supply wagon. He looked completely miserable.

Finally Knuckles tapped Sonic on the shoulder.

"Sonic... you need to move. We're going to blow up the fortress, and then we'll... bury..." His voice trailed off. Sonic said nothing, but got up. Knuckles assigned a few other animals to carry Gabriel's body off the field with honor.

Soon all the detonators were in place and Saermore set them all off. As everyone stood well away from the fortress, it exploded spectacularly. Millions of pieces blew sky-high with the force of the bomb. The air turned fiery red for a few moments, and the smell of burning rocks filled the air.

No one cheered. It was like a tribute instead, a salute to Gabriel and all those who had died fighting.

Many others, humans and _metiyas_ alike, saw this explosion from afar, and they wondered what would come of it. Eventually this day came to mean two things. The _metiyas_ called it "The Day of Freedom." Humans called it "The Burning Day."

When the destruction was over, the victorious but sad army returned to the base. Alene went over to Sonic.

"Sonic, now that Gabriel's dead, we have no leader. Many of the _metiyas_ wish you to fill that position. Most will have no other."

Sonic looked at her.

"I'll have to think about it," said Sonic finally. Alene nodded and left him alone. He retreated to his room and lay down on his cot.

That was how Tails found him fifteen minutes later.

"Sonic?" he asked, in a very small voice.

Sonic rolled over. When he saw Tails, he wasn't sure what to think. He knew that Tails had betrayed them and allowed Hashlar to kill many _metiyas_, but somehow he didn't think it had been Tails. He remembered dimly that Hashlar has stumbled before killing Gabriel... because Tails had held him back...

Sonic sat up. "What?"

Tails, plainly relieved that there was someone still speaking to him, was about to say something when the door opened again.

It was Knuckles and Chaos Zero, and Knuckles was holding one of the Chaos Emeralds.  
"Hey there, Sonic. Tails, we need to speak with you."

Tails looked at him almost fearfully. It was obvious he thought he was going to get some kind of lecture, or worse.

Knuckles saw it too. "Hey, don't worry. We just need to check something out." He motioned Tails to sit down on the floor. Knuckles and Chaos Zero also sat.

"Chaos Zero told me he thought we might be able to do something about your strange behavior. He knows, and I know that you would never have betrayed us by yourself. So we were just wondering if we could look inside you with the powers of the Chaos Emerald. It's not gonna hurt."

Tails considered.

"All right," said Tails apprehensively. Chaos Zero laid his hands on Tails' head, and Knuckles began to chant in a different language.

"_Thi ne ka_... _thi ne ka_..." Chaos Zero joined in the chanting. A bright aura of light began to grow around the three. Soon it was too bright for Sonic to see.

Then abruptly the chanting and light stopped as Knuckles and Chaos Zero were thrown against the wall.

"Ahhh..." Knuckles gasped. "It's evil!"

Tails, stood up, eyes now blazing red. Knuckles leapt at him and held him down.

"Quickly, Chaos Zero! Do the severing rites!" he yelled. "Sonic, help me hold him down! Whatever's controlling him is gonna resist!"

Sonic immediately joined in the struggle. It was lucky he did, for Knuckles would not have been able to hold him down. Chaos Zero's deep, steady voice boomed out through the mess, and the Chaos Emerald glowed brightly. Tails started thrashing about and cried out in a voice that was not his own.

"Ahhhhh! You will not... do this to... a Master of the..." he shouted. Then he stopped and lay still. Chaos Zero had ended the chant.

Sonic thought he saw a thin black cord attached to Tails snap. It writhed on the floor for a few seconds and then disappeared.

Knuckles let go and sat up. "Oh man, I didn't think we were gonna make it there... but Tails had a kind of controlling curse on him. Very rare, and hard to sever. The only reason we figured it out was because Chaos Zero could sense the Chaos power radiating from the link." He wiped sweat off his forehead. Tails lay unconscious on the floor.

"Who was it?" asked Sonic.

"Kerrigan, without a doubt," replied Knuckles, still breathing heavily. "But I wonder where he got the power to do that? It takes all seven Chaos Emeralds to make a bond like that, and I had one with me all this time, so there's no way he could have done it... yet he did."

"At least Tails is okay, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he'll be okay." At these words, Tails stirred.

"Uhhhh... where am I?" he asked uncertainly. "The last thing I remember is getting knocked on the head after being dragged into an alley..."

Sonic, Knuckles, and Chaos Zero looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Tails, confused.

"Ah, Tails," said Sonic through his laughter. "It's good to see you back."


	2. Chapter 2

I have only so long to finish this (I go out of the country in August) so I'll try to get this going! I hope my older readers know where this is...

Sonica the hedgefox - Don't worry, this isn't close to finished yet. After all, this is only the second chapter.We've got about ten to go, more or less. :) Please, keep reading!

* * *

Later a funeral was held outside in the gently sprinkling rain for Gabriel. It was absolutely silent. No one could speak as Gabriel's body, shrouded in a golden blanket, was carried slowly to a hole dug in the ground and carefully lowered in. Everyone put a bit of dirt in it as sort of a memorial. Soon Gabriel was buried. Flowers and other things were placed on top.

Sonic attempted to make a speech of farewell, but all he could say was, "I'm sorry." Then he turned away and hid his face. No one spoke for a long time. Then, one by one, they all filed out through the rain until there was no one left but Alene and Sonic.

"He was like a father to me," said Alene softly.

"For a short time," replied Sonic sadly.

After that, a meeting was ordered. The army had to decide what to do with Hashlar's army and Hashlar himself. Many _metiyas_ wished Tails to be punished as a traitor. And all still wanted Sonic to claim leadership. Sonic made an announcement to the whole army.

"I will not be taking up leadership here," he said loudly over the wave of voices. The noise quickly quieted down.

"I'd like to nominate Chaos Zero instead, since he has had much more experience with this kind of thing, and I will be going away shortly."

The _metiyas_ murmured amongst themselves but did not object. Retio now stepped up onto the speaking platform.

"We must now decide what to do with the _metiyas_ from Hashlar's army and Hashlar himself."

He turned to Saermore. "Bring out the prisoners of war."

At the back of the huge meeting cavern, more _metiyas_ came in, but these were surrounded by guards. At their very front, a man wearing once-ornate robes (now muddy and torn) was lead by five guards, none too gently.

Retio asked the army, "What shall we do with them?"

Many voices cried out.

"Kill them all!"

"Kill Hashlar!"

"Let the _metiyas_ live, but kill Hashlar!"

"Throw them out!"

"Punish them!"

"Let them join! They were forced to do this!"

Retio held out his arms, and the audience quieted.

"We must make this decision as a whole. First, the other _metiyas_."

The majority of the _metiyas_ were okay with letting Hashlar's army join them, because they had been slaves and were forced to fight. Also many _metiyas_ had relatives among the different armies, and there were many happy reunions as the two armies converged.  
Finally Retio held up his hands and once again silence fell.

"What should we do with Hashlar?"

A gopher suggested they get information out of Hashlar, and everyone agreed to this. Hashlar was dragged away kicking and screaming.

Finally there was the matter of what to do with Tails. There was a general undercurrent of anger toward him as he had betrayed them to Hashlar's army. Sonic explained what had happened to him, and silenced any ideas of punishment. Still the attitude toward Tails was not exactly friendly.

The meeting then broke up, and the members of the former revolution split up to go to their rooms. Many were packing, having done their job, and going out to forge a new life. There were still thousands of _metiyas_ left, however, and they decided to form a community with Chas Zero as their leader.

But in the meantime, there was still Hashlar. Thayne had died a couple weeks earlier for unknown reasons. The guards had found him in his cell, dead with a trickle of blood coming from his mouth. No one knew why.

Retio, Saermore, Sonic, Alene, and Tails entered Hashlar's cell. He looked up at them with defiant eyes.

"You'll never get anything out of me! Never!" And he laughed maniacally.

"Get out the thumbscrews and chains, Retio," Saermore ordered calmly. "Don't forget the whips and the hot rack." Retio nodded and vanished into the storeroom.

Hashlar's eyes grew wide. "You wouldn't!"

"Yes," replied Saermore. "I would."

Hashlar's eyes darted around the cell as if looking for a way out. Retio came back with the ordered torture equipment and began to set it up.

Hashlar began to shake. "I-I d-d-don't know a-a-anything."

"I think you do," said Saermore, still absolutely calm. He picked up a thumbscrew. Hashlar was chained to the wall and could not move as Saermore came closer and grabbed his thumb.

"Now tell me. What do you know about Kerrigan?"

"He's the High Lord. And once he finds out what you've done, you all will pay!"

"I know that. Tell me something I don't know." Saermore brought the thumbscrew closer.

"He - he lives in a great citadel."

"Um hm. Go on." The thumbscrew got a little closer.

"High in the clouds."

The thumbscrew stopped. "Where?"

"How should I know? In the sky!"

The thumbscrew continued moving.

"I really don't know!" cried Hashlar. Saermore looked in his eyes and knew he was telling the truth.

"All right. How long has he set you up to do this?"

"He promised me a kingdom of my own - and I had it, until you filthy beasts took it away." Hashlar spat on the floor. The thumbscrew touched his thumb. Hashlar screamed, even though Saermore was not twisting it.

"Hey, hey! Ow, that hurts!"

"Tell me more."

"There is one other who is in favor of the High Lord."

Sonic leaned forward. "Yes? Who is it?"

"A little black hedgehog."

Sonic grabbed Hashlar. "Where is he now?"

"With Kerrigan, you idiot." Then suddenly Hashlar writhed out of his grip and with his teeth took something small out of his shirt. He bit down hard, and something cracked. It was a vial of liquid.

"Hah! No... more... out... of... me..." Hashlar's head rolled forward and he went limp.

Saermore examined the liquid, careful not to touch it. "Darn it! Poison."

"That's it for him," said Alene, eyeing to corpse with distaste.

Saermore summoned other _metiyas_ to clean up the mess. They went back to the meeting hall.

"Sonic, that's all we're going to be able to do here," said Tails. "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll go to fight Kerrigan and save Shadow!" declared Sonic.

"Yeah!" shouted Tails. "When do we leave?"

"We'll leave in two days," decided Sonic. "That gives us time to pack up and say our goodbyes. Tails, you tell the others that we're leaving in two days."

Retio and Saermore looked faintly disappointed. "You're sure you won't stay here?" asked Retio as Tails bounded off.

"Yes. There's a... friend of mine that is in deep trouble with Kerrigan. We have to rescue him."

"I see." Retio looked thoughtful. "Then we're coming with you."

"What? No, it's far too dangerous. You have your places here," objected Sonic.

"Our place was to help the revolution. Now that's done and we can decide for ourselves what we want," said Saermore.

Sonic sighed.

"Sure, you guys can come," said Sonic resignedly.

"That's what I thought," said Retio, tossing him a grin. Saermore left the room to start packing and gather supplies.

"Oh, and Sonic..." said Retio as he started to leave. "You're really lucky. You have friends who are devoted to you and would follow you to the ends of the earth. There's something to be said for that." He left.

Sonic looked at the floor. "But why would they be willing to die for me?" he asked of the air, sadly.


	3. Chapter 3

Sonica the hedgefox: I appreciate your reviews! Even if only one person is reading this... I shall continue! It's so hard to get readers on a board this size... :sighs: I'll try to update more often.

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That night Tails looked at the ceiling. He could not sleep. Something was bothering him... then he realized what it was.

He got up and tiptoed to Alene's room.

She was still awake, and looked as if she had been expecting him.

"You are leaving." It was more of a statement than a question.

Tails nodded wordlessly.

"Then I'm coming with you. Besides, you'll need someone who knows to the land."

"It's too dangerous," protested Tails.

"I've been in the middle of a battle and faced death from discovery of my role as a spy. This can't be worse than that."

Tails looked at her.

"All right, you can come," said Tails. He had expected her to come anyways. Now he could not imagine a journey without her.

Alene made a sound of contentment and lay back down. "Go back to sleep now."

Tails didn't sleep another wink that night.

The next day was full of goodbyes and packing. Sonic was so busy afterwards he didn't know how he survived the day. There were many _metiyas_ that simply wanted a glimpse of him, and he was followed by many admirers.

Sonic and the others were glad when the day ended. Exhausted, they went to bed.

The next day dawned bright and clear. Sonic and company made some final farewells and last-minute packing, and then they set off. There wasn't a cloud in the sky above them, and the air seemed fresh and clean.

Retio and Saermore seemed to have a general idea of where Kerrigan's citadel was, and told Sonic that there were three ways to get to it.

"We can take the river course, the forest course, or we can head straight over the plains," Saermore informed Sonic as they all took a rest break. It was midday.

"Which way should we go?" asked Rouge.

Sonic thought.

"I think we'll take the forest route," decided Sonic. "It may be long, but we'll have plenty of cover and no problem finding food."

Everyone agreed with him and they set off, Retio in the lead, with Tails, Alene, Harry, and Rouge in the middle, and Sonic, Knuckles, and Saermore bringing up the rear.

They traveled in this fashion for three days. It was on the morning of the fourth day that they were attacked.

They were walking single-file through some particularly soggy parts of marsh in the forest. Rouge stepped in a pile of muck.

"Ewwww," she complained. "I don't want to know where that came from!"

Then suddenly a trio of bats swooped down from the sky. One started biting Sonic, and the other two fluttered around harassing the rest of the party. They were charged by four lizards.

"Ambush!" shouted Saermore as he tried to beat off the bat attacking Sonic with his quarterstaff. The other party members were having similar difficulties.

"Attack them all!" shouted Sonic. Everyone started trying to beat off their attackers. Knuckles walloped one of the bats and sent it spinning off, where it hit a tree hard and never got up again.

Rouge kicked one of the lizards in its snout and as it bent over in pain, Saermore smashed its skull in with his staff.

There were two more bats and three lizards left. Alene jumped on the back of one bat and started whacking it as it frantically flew in various loops trying to dislodge her. Finally it crashed into a large tree and lay still.

Retio and Saermore surrounded the remaining lizards while Knuckles punched the last bat into a nearby river. Its wings became waterlogged and it floated off with the current.  
The lizards snarled, and then charged Sonic. He was caught by surprise and was knocked backwards into a particularly soggy patch of marsh. Harry helped him up while Knuckles, Retio, Tails and Saermore beat off the three lizards. One fell into the river and was carried off.

Now there were only two lizards left. Madness glinted in their eyes as they rushed forward, sharpened pikes lowered for the kill.

They were aiming for Sonic but Harry threw himself in their path. They tripped over him and a pike scored his back. One of the lizards landed next to Sonic and flipped over, raising his pike. Knuckles crashed into him and broke his neck. The last one fled, howling... but not for long. He tripped over a root and went headfirst into a patch of quicksand. With barely a sound, he was pulled under and out of sight to a silent death.

Panting, the others regrouped. Alene attended to Harry's back while the other dragged the corpses into the quicksand.

"Look, Sonic," said Retio. He held up the back of one lizard's hand. On it was the mark of a _metiya_.

"They were slaves under orders," said Saermore. "And we just slaughtered them."

The group was silent with this disturbing thought. Sonic sighed.

"Let's clean up and stop for the night," advised Retio. "It's getting dark, and it's not safe to be wandering around in this forest after nightfall."

"Why not?" asked Rouge.

"In the dark we might blunder into some quicksand, or worse," replied Retio, pointedly looking over where the lizard had disappeared into quicksand. Rouge got the hint.

Alene ordered Harry to rest while Knuckles, Saermore, and Tails set up camp. They flung up tents on solid ground and started a fire. Everyone washed off the muck and mud in the river, and then had a hot dinner before going to sleep.

The next morning the group awoke feeling refreshed. They packed up camp and stuck off across the forest. Soon, however, it began to rain. And not a gentle sprinkling, either. This was a full-fledged downpour. Soon the party's spirits were as soaked as their bodies. The trees did not help much in holding off the water.

The marsh soon became a bog. Water pooled everywhere and in some cases threatened to suck them down into the suffocating sands that would have been harmless when dry. For every step they took, their feet sank about half a foot before stopping. Then they would laboriously pull them up before placing the other foot down, sinking and becoming stuck. It was not pleasant. Soon the air was dark as night, though it was noon, and an unpleasant stench began to waft through the trees. The rain came on.

"Sonic, we must stop!" shouted Saermore through the rain and thunder. "We cannot keep going like this!"

"No, we have to go on! Shadow's life may depend upon us!"

"We won't be much use to him if we drown in water and quicksand!" pointed out Knuckles.

Sonic reluctantly agreed, and the party halted and attempted to strike camp. However, the ground was semi-water by now, and the tents kept floating away or leaking, so they gave up and just huddled under the nearest trees, shivering. No one even tried to start a fire, for all the wood was soaked through.

The rain continued throughout the day, and all through the night. No one got any sleep. When the darkness above them got slightly lighter, meaning morning, it was still raining hard.

"This cannot be natural," muttered Harry. Most agreed with him.

Retio turned to Sonic. "We must do something. We cannot sit like this for much longer."

"We will continue!" shouted Sonic through the rain. "We can't go back!"

The party wearily got up and slogged along through the marsh, which was by now almost a very shallow lake. Fortunately, they were not attacked by anything else. However, morale was at an all-time low. No one said anything, concentrating on laboriously putting one foot in front of the other. The sky above them was still dark, even though it was close to noon.

Retio, who was in front, thought he felt the rain lightening, when from behind there came a scream that was abruptly cut off. He whirled around in time to see Alene's tail vanish into the water.

"Quicksand!" shouted Saermore. Knuckles and Harry felt themselves sinking fast. They had blundered into a whole area full of quicksand!

"Help!" shouted Knuckles and Harry.

The others looked around frantically.

"Quick!" shouted Sonic. "Retio, get Knuckles! Saermore, get Harry! Tails, help me with Alene!"

Tails grabbed a rope that he had in his pack, tossed on end to Sonic, and dived into the pit that Alene had vanished into.

Sonic was surprised, but held onto his end of the rope as it became taunt. Behind him, Saermore and Retio weren't having too much trouble pulling Harry and Knuckles out.  
Sonic felt a slight tug on his end of the rope.

Sonic pulled hard on his end of the rope, and Tails reappeared, gasping and carrying Alene. She was unconscious. Behind Sonic, Harry and Knuckles were now freed. The group ran out of the quicksand pits before anyone else could start sinking.


	4. Chapter 4

Krystalwolf: Yay! Old reader came back:) And thank you! I have to leave for a while soon, probably for a year or so, so I want to finish this story before I go. Hopefully it will, I have everything written out, so I'll just update rapid-fire over the next few days. Hope you don't mind terribly. This is about as long as SA3, which is to say, not that long.

* * *

Ahead, the rain was finally stopping, and the marshes were coming to an end. The sky lightened, and the ground ahead appeared dry. The sun sent shafts of light down between the tree branches.

The party stopped and washed at a nearby brook. Then they set up camp, as it was nearly evening and they still had a ways to go before the forest ended.

Knuckles and Saermore set up tents while Sonic and Retio lit a fire. Tails made sure Alene was okay, and Alene looked at the wound on Harry's back. It was a fiery red and slightly swollen.

"I think it's infected," said Alene. She put some herbs that she had found on the gash and ordered him to rest. Everyone was thankful for the chance to rest and dry off.

Knuckles sat deep in thought next to Harry, watching the fire throw off sparks into the night. It danced and swayed in a hypnotic pattern. Finally, Knuckles spoke.

"Harry, what do you know about Kerrigan?"

Harry started. He had been half asleep, and used to being ignored.

Harry thought for a while before replying.

"Well, he was the one who hired me to help restore ARK. He told me that he liked my enthusiasm. I never thought there was anything odd about him, except for his eyes. Everyone who knew him agreed that his eyes were strange. They were vivid green, and seemed to pierce right into your soul... like he knew what you were thinking."

Harry noticed the others were listening. Unused to so much attention, he went on hesitantly.

"I worked on the ARK project for several months. During that time I learned that there was another group of scientists living on the ARK. They called themselves the S.E.C.R.E.T. group, short for Secluded Experiment Conduction and Research of Extra Terrestrials. They had been formed recently, and Kerrigan was at their head. One night as I was working I overheard a conversation.

'I think we found it,' said one man. He was talking to Kerrigan.

'That's good. Have you prepared the dosage yet?' Kerrigan replied. This is the part I could never figure out. I did not know what dosage they were talking about. From their conversation, I was able to guess that they had found something in space, and were preparing to give it some sort of medicine."

Harry paused for a minute, and then continued. "That was only a month before you came. After the conversation I heard, Kerrigan became distant and was harder and harder to contact. He was busy with something else, and no one knew what. Then about a day later, I was given a charge. It was a black hedgehog, who, as I said, looked a lot like you, Sonic." He looked at Sonic.

"He had been through extensive lung surgery because of his exposure to the vacuum, and he was still asleep. I cared for him for about a week, and then he woke up. He did not remember anything of what had happened before he was given to me. He did not even know his name, so he called himself Nine. I mentioned this to Kerrigan, and - it's odd - he seemed pleased. Then, about three weeks later, you showed up. And we became involved in all this." Harry gestured at the world around them.

"That's all I know."

The party nodded, and decided it was time for bed. Most lay awake for a long while pondering Harry's words.

The next day Alene checked Harry's wound again. It was inflamed.

"Definitely infected," pronounced Alene. She turned to Sonic.

"I think we should wait here a little while. Continuing walking will only make it worse," she advised.

"We can't afford to wait," said Sonic. "Find some more herbs, and then we'll continue. How do you feel, Harry?"

"Fine," said Harry, although his back was, in truth, aching. However, he had no wish to slow down the party.

"There, see?" said Sonic to Alene. She nodded reluctantly and gathered some more herbs. Once she had administered them, the party continued.

They came to the edge of the forest by midday. Sonic saw nothing but a large plain before them.

"Where's the citadel?" he asked, looking around.

"Sonic, look up," Tails said in an awe-filled voice.

Sonic looked.

Up there, amongst the wispy clouds in the sunny day, was a huge citadel. It was floating on nothing, suspended by air. The underside was rocky, like it had been pulled up from the earth. Huge towers soared up to be lost among the clouds. Despite the fact that it was home to an evil tyrant, the citadel was quite beautiful. It was made out of some silvery, unearthly material. The sweeping towers were surrounded by strong walls. Various birds flew high above it, certainly guards. More were unseen behind the castle walls.

"Wow," said Rouge. "Only one slight problem. Knuckles and I can glide up there, but what about the rest of you?"

"That's no problem," said Retio confidently. He took a whistle out of his pocket.

"We have spies among the guards, the flying ones," he said, gesturing up to the citadel. "If I blow this whistle, they will come. But they will only come when the guard shift changes, so it won't look suspicious. I don't know when the shift changes, so we'll have to guess. Let's wait until sundown." guessed Retio. "That would be a likely time for a shift change."

They waited within the edge of the forest so as not to be seen. When sundown came, Retio blew the whistle. Nothing was heard.

"The pitch is too low for most ears," he explained. "But the guards will be able to hear it. Ah, we were right! Here they come now."

Five magnificent, large cardinals swooped down from the sky. They landed at the edge of the forest and appeared to begin pecking at various berries. But one of them said out of the corner of his beak, "Climb on our backs! We can take two at a time, but one for the human."

Alene and Tails climbed on one, Sonic and Saermore on another, Harry on one, and Retio on the last. Rouge and Knuckles agreed to glide closely underneath the riderless one so no one would see them. The riderless one would approach the castle first so the other guards would see nothing out of the ordinary. Then they would not look too closely at the other cardinals.

They flew up to the citadel, and all went well. The guards did not give them a second glance. The cardinals flew them in under the shadow of an arch.

"Good luck!" they whispered, and then flew off.

Sonic and the others hurried into the citadel. After the arch, the hallways branched off into four directions. The group headed down the center-right corridor. The layout proved to be fairly simple, and they headed in the general direction of the center of the citadel, figuring that Kerrigan would be at the heart of this.

As they were walking along one hallway, they heard loud voices. From the sound of it, about six guards were walking down the hallway towards them!

Sonic and the others waited until the guards had passed them, and then leapt onto them. They were taken completely by surprise and didn't stand a chance.

In a few minutes, the guards (who were all lizards) were subdued.

Saermore picked on the one who seemed most likely to be the leader. "Tell me where we can find Kerrigan."

"Kerrigan?" asked the leader suspiciously. "You should know. There's no need to attack us for..." Then he saw Harry. His eyes narrowed. "There shouldn't be any humans in the castle!" He drew in a deep breath to yell... and Saermore hit him over the head. He dropped like a stone. Then Saermore turned to the five other lizards.

"Would any of you be so kind as to give us directions to Kerrigan?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

One of the lizards put a trembling claw in the direction of a corridor branching off to the right.

"Can you give us more _specific_ directions?" asked Saermore, not trusting the lizard.

Trembling, the lizard said, "I can lead you there if you want..."

"All right," said Saermore, yanking the lizard to his feet roughly. "Can we trust your companions, or are we going to have to tie them up?"

He turned to look at the four other lizards. They weren't moving, or even blinking. Suddenly Saermore noticed that thin sticks were sticking out of their necks. Then the other lizard collapsed on top of him.

Retio pulled out the dart that had appeared on the lizard's neck. "Poison." He quickly dropped it and leapt back into a nearby room. "They may have us in their sights!"

Everyone else quickly ducked into the room Retio was in. No more darts issued forth.

"I think whoever they were, they didn't want the lizards telling us where Kerrigan was," said Rouge.

"Then why didn't they shoot us?" asked Knuckles. No one answered that.

They stayed in there for a few more minutes, and then crept cautiously out. No one shot at them, so Retio assumed that the shooters were gone.

"We can go now," he said in a low voice. They walked quietly toward the corridor the lizard had indicated.

"Wait!" said Alene. She turned and rushed back to the room they had been in where Harry sat slumped against the doorframe.

"It's too much," said Alene as the others followed her. "The gash is infected, and it's too much for him. I told you we should have waited!"

Sonic regretted his decision, but there was nothing he could do now. "He's not going anywhere, but we need to go on."

"Alene, you know the most about healing. You stay with him," ordered Sonic. "We'll continue. Be sure you are well-hidden."


	5. Chapter 5

To all readers (however few they may be): I am going to be going out of country for a year, and I badly want to finish this story before I go. Fortunately, it is already written, so I'm going to bombard you with a flurry of updates (I apologize in advance, I know this is bad writing). Here are the next five chapters. I'll post the lastone and the epilogue tomorrow, just to leave you in a little suspense.

* * *

They went down the hallway the lizard had indicated. No other guards were in the corridor. It led to a room with large doors. Sonic crept cautiously to the doors, opened them a crack, and looked in. There was no one there, only a large, empty room with cold grey stone floor tiles.

"You may come in now," said a voice. Sonic jumped in surprise and looked around.

"Don't bother," said the voice. "Just come in."

Sonic and the others filed hesitantly into the room. Once they were all in, the doors slammed shut behind them, and a hedgehog landed in front of them from nowhere.  
It was black, and its spines were long, streaked with purple and coming down to its knees.

"What? Surprised to see me?" it asked, and its voice revealed it to be a girl. "That doesn't matter. In any case, you're not going any further!"

She snapped her fingers, and a group of lions came out from behind some curtains. The party was surrounded.

The party looked around warily at the lions, who were all holding spears in there paws, pointed at them. They were evenly matched in numbers, but the lions had the weapons, although the hedgehog was unarmed. Sonic made a snap decision.

"Break out of here!" he yelled. Knuckles dove of the nearest lion, knocked his spear out, and began to fight. The others followed suit. Sonic and the other hedgehog circled each other warily.

"You think you can beat me, Sonic?" she asked, sneering.

"You have me at a disadvantage," admitted Sonic.

"I certainly do," she replied haughtily.

"I mean, you know my name and I don't know yours," he said. "Care to fix that?"

"You don't need to know," she said. "But you can call me... Starlight." With that she lunged at him. Sonic had seen her muscles tense and was prepared. He dodged easily and kicked her hard as she went by.

"Oof," she wheezed as she went sprawling. But she rolled, came to her feet, and tripped Sonic. Then she punched him viciously. Sonic could not avoid her, and being on the floor definitely wasn't a good place to defend from. She was all over him, pummeling him, all the while with a sneering smile on her face. Sonic curled up and tried desperately to get away. It wasn't working.

Alene was stirring up an ointment of dried herbs that she kept in a bag with her. She spat into the paste to moisten it and finished. She smeared it over Harry's back. He was conscious now, and embarrassed that he had passed out.

"I'll be okay... I don't mean to slow you down..." he said awkwardly.

"We aren't slowed down. Sonic and the others went ahead." Alene finished the ointment and wiped her hands on the carpet. Harry showed visible improvement.

An hour later, they heard sounds outside the door. Harry and Alene froze.

In marched a gray dog, followed by six black hedgehogs. All looked ready for battle. The dog carried a short sword, and looked deadly with it.

"You are to surrender. No one will be hurt if you do," declared the dog. "I am Ewnon, and you are intruders. We will take you before the High Lord to be judged."

"Really?" said Alene. From her waist she drew a long dagger. Harry crouched on the floor next to her.

One of the black hedgehogs grabbed Alene roughly. That was a huge mistake.  
Harry exploded into action. His foot came up into the hedgehog's jaw, and he was knocked senseless. Harry pivoted on one foot and belted another hedgehog in the gut. He went down as well. He turned to face two and was jabbing and kicking at them. One came up behind him, fist raised.

"Harry, look out!" cried Alene from where she was fighting another hedgehog. Harry dispatched the two he was facing, ducked under the surprised hedgehog's punch, and turned around and kicked him hard in a sensitive place. The assailant dropped like a stone. Then he knocked the other hedgehog Alene was facing across the room.

Now there was only Ewnon left. He held up his sword in an attack position. "I see you are well trained," he said to Harry as he lunged. "But that will not save you!"

Meanwhile, Sonic and the rest weren't having such an easy time fighting off their assailants. Two of the lions were down, but the rest were still attacking furiously, and Tails was having trouble fending them off. Fighting hand-to-hand, or hand-to-spear, was not his style of fighting. Knuckles, Rouge, Saermore, and Retio were doing okay. All were trained fighters. But Sonic was having no better luck. He had managed to get away from Starlight, but she was still coming at him. Right now it was all he could do to fend her off.

As he was fighting, he noticed that the fallen lions had dropped their spears. Taking advantage of that, he rolled and grabbed a spear. It was heavy, obviously meant for stronger people. And Sonic had no clue as to how to use a spear. But at least it was a weapon. He turned to face Starlight. She sneered and laughed.

"You're holding it wrong!" With that she grabbed his spear and forced him backwards, painfully. Sonic kicked her. She staggered back - and Sonic, for no reason whatsoever, looked up.

Starlight was standing under a grand chandelier. And Sonic was holding a thick, heavy spear.

Sonic took aim and hurled the spear with all his strength. It sailed up, up into the air until it connected solidly with the chandelier.

Starlight failed to notice the chandelier and thought he had aimed at her. She laughed.  
"A little too high, I think," she taunted him. "Come on; see if you can fight better than you aim."

Sonic stood back. The chandelier has broken its chain and fell. Starlight looked up.

"AHHH!" she screamed and leaped away - mostly. The chandelier came crashing down on her right leg.

The lions, Sonic, and the rest were thrown away by the shattering of glass and wood. Most received minor cuts from the glass splinters.

Knuckles took advantage of the lions' stunned state and bashed the nearest two on the head. Retio, Rouge, and Saermore did the same, and very soon all the lions were out cold. Starlight was trapped under the chandelier, not dead, but stuck and unable to move.  
Sonic went to the others to see that they were okay, and then went to Starlight.

She glared up at him and said nothing, holding her head as high as she could, proudly, despite the fact that she was stuck under a fallen chandelier.

Sonic studied her. She was very arrogant, obviously, but she had a good fighting spirit.  
Sonic and the others very carefully pulled the chandelier off Starlight. Her leg was broken so she could do nothing. Retio tied her arms with strips of curtain. Knuckles made sure the lions were bound as well.

"Tell me, where is Kerrigan?" Saermore was getting tired of asking this question.

"You think I would know?" spat Starlight. "He keeps to himself in his little tower, along with his favored _metiya_."

"Who is it?" asked Sonic, coming closer to her. She said nothing. Saermore nudged her broken leg.

"Ahhhh!" she cried, but stayed silent. Saermore nudged it again.

"Just... some... black... hedgehog..." said Starlight through gritted teeth. "Why would you want to know?"

"Because we're going to rescue him," declared Tails.

Starlight didn't move, but something in her manner changed. The sneer slowly dropped from her face, and she sighed.

"You're going to be the heroes, aren't you?" she asked quietly. "You're going to rescue him and leave me here to die, because I'm a villain. I picked the wrong side. And while you return as heroes, I watch as my world crashes and burns around me because that's what happens to villains at the end..."

Her words touched Sonic, and for a moment he found himself feeling sorry for her.

"I knew he was wrong, but it was an easy job," she continued. "I had food and shelter, which is more than I ever had back down there. You guys looked so easy to beat... but I was wrong." Starlight stopped and looked sadly at the floor.

Retio didn't know whether she was telling the truth or just trying to make them feel sorry for her so she could escape. The rest didn't know what to think.

Sonic slowly stood up. He untied Starlight's arms, and then turned to the others. His gaze said, _let's go_. Silently, he led them out of the room and into the courtyard beyond.


	6. Chapter 6

Retio climbed silently up the stairs, looking around and up, keeping to the shadows. He was determined not to be surprised. There were a few rooms on the way up, but all were empty.

It was about half an hour before he reached the top of the staircase. It led to a room which had a large balcony outside. Retio cautiously looked out.

The sky had clouded over, and it was starting to rain gently. But Retio could see the whole castle, and far below, the land. Everything was tiny. He looked down. It was about a thousand feet to the courtyard below. Suddenly Retio heard faint voices. He looked up and strained to hear.

"We did a good job capturing those two," said one voice.

"It was a piece of cake. The High Lord already knew they were here, and besides, the fools had been shouting before. Dead giveaway," added another voice.

"Silence!" said a deep, commanding voice. The others fell silent.

"Neither is the one the High Lord is looking for," the deep voice continued, so quietly Retio almost fell off the balcony trying to hear.

"We must wait for him. Obviously he took the wrong stairway. But first we must eliminate the others."

Retio backed away and a small gasp escaped his lips.

"Sh!" said the voice. "Someone may be listening." Footsteps were heard, and they stopped directly above Retio's balcony.

Retio backed slowly into the room and ducked behind a nearby bed soundlessly. There was silence, then a rushing of air and the sound of a heavy body hitting stone. Retio froze. He crawled under the bed and peeked at the balcony from under the covers draped across the bed.

A huge black bird walked into the room. He must have dropped from the balcony above. He slowly surveyed the room. His eyes swept over the bed where Retio was hiding. Was it his imagination, or did his gaze pause slightly? Retio began to feel small tendrils of fear.

Underneath the bed it was rather dusty. Small movements stirred it up, and it reached Retio's nose. He felt a tickling start, and he knew he was going to sneeze. He held his breath.

That didn't help.

"Ah-CHOO!" sneezed Retio. Instantly he knew he was done for. He looked frantically around for some place to hide.

The bird came closer to the bed. With a sudden swift movement, he stooped and swept the covers away from the bed, revealing...

Nothing.

Puzzled, the bird bent to look under the bed. But there was no one there. With surprising gracefulness, he leapt over the bed and looked around the other side.

There was no one there.

He ran out and looked down the stairwell. He looked all around the room and in the rafters.

There was no one there. It was as if the sneeze had been only his imagination.

Grumbling a bit, the bird convinced himself that he had heard a guard sneezing upstairs. After all, his hearing was remarkably sensitive. He leaped off the balcony and soared into the air, spiraling up and up until he was lost to view. Then he suddenly swooped back down and landed on the balcony. His footsteps receded into the floor above.

Below, Retio didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief. He slowly crawled out from under the bed. He'd had to switch positions several times to avoid discovery, but the bird had not seen him. Then he scrambled out of the room and back down the stairs. He had to tell the others what he had heard!

Sonic and Tails climbed the stairs in silence. There was nothing of interest there, not even a door or a window.

Tails said suddenly, "I wonder if Alene is okay?"

_Ah..._ thought Sonic. _So he does like her..._

Aloud he said, "I'm sure she's fine."

Tails nodded, but he still looked worried.

After about half an hour of climbing, they reached an end to the stairwell. There was nothing there save a window.

Sonic looked outside. He saw a black speck in the sky. It got larger and larger until Sonic realized it was a bird and likely a guard, and ducked down behind the window, grabbing Tails. He heard a rush of wind as the bird came near to their window, then took off. Sonic looked back up in time to see it vanish into a nearby balcony.

"I don't know what that was," he told Tails, "but there's nothing up here. We need to go back down."

Tails agreed and they hurried back down the stairs.

They reached the bottom and found Saermore waiting for them.

"Retio, Knuckles, and Rouge are not here yet," he said quietly.

As if on cue, Retio burst into the room, panting slightly. He took stock of who was there.

"Good, you're here... but I think Knuckles and Rouge have been captured," he said.

Quickly he related what he had overheard, and his narrow escape from the black bird.

"We should go after them!" declared Tails.

"I don't know..." said Saermore. "If they were captured so easily, what's to stop the guys from taking us?"

"We have to rescue Knuckles and Rouge!" declared Sonic. "Let's go!" Together they ran up the stairs that Knuckles and Rouge had taken.

After about half an hour, they reached a set of huge double doors. Sonic stepped up to them. As he did, Saermore heard a faint hiss.

"Sonic, look out!" Saermore dived at him the knock the blue hedgehog aside. Just in time.

A snake, hissing and spitting, dropped down from the rafters overhead. It wrapped itself around Saermore, and then flung him up. Above them something caught him and slithered out of sight.

"No!" cried Retio. "Saermore!"

The snake, hearing his voice, turned to him. Its sightless eyes fixed on its new target.

"It's blind!" hissed Tails. "It's attracted to whoever speaks!"

The snake hesitated, confused. It turned as if unsure as to who to attack. Sonic took advantage of this to whack it hard on the head. It dropped to the floor and started rolling limply down the stairs.

The three paused for a moment, breathing hard. Sonic looked up to where Saermore had been taken, but there was no further movement. Slowly, Sonic turned and flung the doors wide.

It revealed a throne room. Kerrigan was sitting on the throne, and beside him was Nine. The throne was surrounded by ten eagles and one big black bird wielding an ornate staff. Sonic recognized him from the bird he and Tails had seen from the window in the stairwell.

"Welcome," said Kerrigan. "I see you have defeated my guardsmen. Not without cost, of course."

Sonic flushed slightly red. "You're going to pay for that, Kerrigan!"

"Really?" asked Kerrigan in a smooth voice. "How much would you like?" He laughed without humor. Then he flicked a finger. "Come, Nine," he ordered, and stood up. "Let's leave these people to their little fights."

The eagles and the black bird moved forward menacingly.

Kerrigan said nothing, but he and Nine vanished with a small flash of light.

The birds moved until they surrounded the small trio.

Retio heard a small noise, and some ceiling paint fell on him. He looked up.

Up on the ceiling, suspended in chains and struggling like a trapped rabbit, was Knuckles. Beside him was Rouge, similarly struggling. They were making frantic gestures at him as far as their bonds would allow, and Knuckles was tying to shout something from behind his gag.

"Imph f tp!" shouted Knuckles.

Retio couldn't understand him, but he knew he had to get them free. He looked about for any sort of weapon. Then he noticed a grand tapestry hanging from the ceiling. The top of it ended quite near to where Knuckles and Rouge were.

A flash of inspiration came to Retio. He bowled through the circle of eagles, and Sonic and Tails, having no clue as to what he was doing, followed him, trying to stop the eagles from reaching him. Retio reached the curtains and began climbing rapidly up them, using his claws to hold himself securely. Finally Sonic and Tails realized what he was trying to do, and they began to fight the eagles and prevent them from taking off. It was a Sisyphean effort, as the eagles they could not reach spread their wings and took off. They clawed at Retio. Retio slashed viciously at them, causing them to fall back.

"Skkkkkrreeeeeee!" screeched the black bird. "You shall not live!" But Retio had now reached the top, and took a pole that held up part of the tapestry. He swung it at the nearest eagle, causing it to fall to the floor with a crash. It did not get up.

The rest of the eagles took the hint and flew away, but hovered just out of the rod's range.  
Retio carefully walked out along the thin line of chain that led to Knuckles and Rouge. Reaching Rouge first, he ripped apart her gag her and slashed through her bonds. Rouge spread her wings and glided away, to help Sonic and Tails.

"Thanks!" she yelled, before plunging into the fray.

Next Retio freed Knuckles.

"Thanks!" he panted. He also flew down, and started bashing every bird in sight. The black bird stayed carefully away from the others. Sonic circled to him.

"Afraid to fight?" he taunted.

"No..." replied the bird. "I am waiting for you." He lunged.


	7. Chapter 7

Retio climbed silently up the stairs, looking around and up, keeping to the shadows. He was determined not to be surprised. There were a few rooms on the way up, but all were empty.

It was about half an hour before he reached the top of the staircase. It led to a room which had a large balcony outside. Retio cautiously looked out.

The sky had clouded over, and it was starting to rain gently. But Retio could see the whole castle, and far below, the land. Everything was tiny. He looked down. It was about a thousand feet to the courtyard below. Suddenly Retio heard faint voices. He looked up and strained to hear.

"We did a good job capturing those two," said one voice.

"It was a piece of cake. The High Lord already knew they were here, and besides, the fools had been shouting before. Dead giveaway," added another voice.

"Silence!" said a deep, commanding voice. The others fell silent.

"Neither is the one the High Lord is looking for," the deep voice continued, so quietly Retio almost fell off the balcony trying to hear.

"We must wait for him. Obviously he took the wrong stairway. But first we must eliminate the others."

Retio backed away and a small gasp escaped his lips.

"Sh!" said the voice. "Someone may be listening." Footsteps were heard, and they stopped directly above Retio's balcony.

Retio backed slowly into the room and ducked behind a nearby bed soundlessly. There was silence, then a rushing of air and the sound of a heavy body hitting stone. Retio froze. He crawled under the bed and peeked at the balcony from under the covers draped across the bed.

A huge black bird walked into the room. He must have dropped from the balcony above. He slowly surveyed the room. His eyes swept over the bed where Retio was hiding. Was it his imagination, or did his gaze pause slightly? Retio began to feel small tendrils of fear.

Underneath the bed it was rather dusty. Small movements stirred it up, and it reached Retio's nose. He felt a tickling start, and he knew he was going to sneeze. He held his breath.

That didn't help.

"Ah-CHOO!" sneezed Retio. Instantly he knew he was done for. He looked frantically around for some place to hide.

The bird came closer to the bed. With a sudden swift movement, he stooped and swept the covers away from the bed, revealing...

Nothing.

Puzzled, the bird bent to look under the bed. But there was no one there. With surprising gracefulness, he leapt over the bed and looked around the other side.

There was no one there.

He ran out and looked down the stairwell. He looked all around the room and in the rafters.

There was no one there. It was as if the sneeze had been only his imagination.

Grumbling a bit, the bird convinced himself that he had heard a guard sneezing upstairs. After all, his hearing was remarkably sensitive. He leaped off the balcony and soared into the air, spiraling up and up until he was lost to view. Then he suddenly swooped back down and landed on the balcony. His footsteps receded into the floor above.

Below, Retio didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief. He slowly crawled out from under the bed. He'd had to switch positions several times to avoid discovery, but the bird had not seen him. Then he scrambled out of the room and back down the stairs. He had to tell the others what he had heard!

Sonic and Tails climbed the stairs in silence. There was nothing of interest there, not even a door or a window.

Tails said suddenly, "I wonder if Alene is okay?"

_Ah..._ thought Sonic. _So he does like her..._

Aloud he said, "I'm sure she's fine."

Tails nodded, but he still looked worried.

After about half an hour of climbing, they reached an end to the stairwell. There was nothing there save a window.

Sonic looked outside. He saw a black speck in the sky. It got larger and larger until Sonic realized it was a bird and likely a guard, and ducked down behind the window, grabbing Tails. He heard a rush of wind as the bird came near to their window, then took off. Sonic looked back up in time to see it vanish into a nearby balcony.

"I don't know what that was," he told Tails, "but there's nothing up here. We need to go back down."

Tails agreed and they hurried back down the stairs.

They reached the bottom and found Saermore waiting for them.

"Retio, Knuckles, and Rouge are not here yet," he said quietly.

As if on cue, Retio burst into the room, panting slightly. He took stock of who was there.

"Good, you're here... but I think Knuckles and Rouge have been captured," he said.

Quickly he related what he had overheard, and his narrow escape from the black bird.

"We should go after them!" declared Tails.

"I don't know..." said Saermore. "If they were captured so easily, what's to stop the guys from taking us?"

"We have to rescue Knuckles and Rouge!" declared Sonic. "Let's go!" Together they ran up the stairs that Knuckles and Rouge had taken.

After about half an hour, they reached a set of huge double doors. Sonic stepped up to them. As he did, Saermore heard a faint hiss.

"Sonic, look out!" Saermore dived at him the knock the blue hedgehog aside. Just in time.

A snake, hissing and spitting, dropped down from the rafters overhead. It wrapped itself around Saermore, and then flung him up. Above them something caught him and slithered out of sight.

"No!" cried Retio. "Saermore!"

The snake, hearing his voice, turned to him. Its sightless eyes fixed on its new target.

"It's blind!" hissed Tails. "It's attracted to whoever speaks!"

The snake hesitated, confused. It turned as if unsure as to who to attack. Sonic took advantage of this to whack it hard on the head. It dropped to the floor and started rolling limply down the stairs.

The three paused for a moment, breathing hard. Sonic looked up to where Saermore had been taken, but there was no further movement. Slowly, Sonic turned and flung the doors wide.

It revealed a throne room. Kerrigan was sitting on the throne, and beside him was Nine. The throne was surrounded by ten eagles and one big black bird wielding an ornate staff. Sonic recognized him from the bird he and Tails had seen from the window in the stairwell.

"Welcome," said Kerrigan. "I see you have defeated my guardsmen. Not without cost, of course."

Sonic flushed slightly red. "You're going to pay for that, Kerrigan!"

"Really?" asked Kerrigan in a smooth voice. "How much would you like?" He laughed without humor. Then he flicked a finger. "Come, Nine," he ordered, and stood up. "Let's leave these people to their little fights."

The eagles and the black bird moved forward menacingly.

Kerrigan said nothing, but he and Nine vanished with a small flash of light.

The birds moved until they surrounded the small trio.

Retio heard a small noise, and some ceiling paint fell on him. He looked up.

Up on the ceiling, suspended in chains and struggling like a trapped rabbit, was Knuckles. Beside him was Rouge, similarly struggling. They were making frantic gestures at him as far as their bonds would allow, and Knuckles was tying to shout something from behind his gag.

"Imph f tp!" shouted Knuckles.

Retio couldn't understand him, but he knew he had to get them free. He looked about for any sort of weapon. Then he noticed a grand tapestry hanging from the ceiling. The top of it ended quite near to where Knuckles and Rouge were.

A flash of inspiration came to Retio. He bowled through the circle of eagles, and Sonic and Tails, having no clue as to what he was doing, followed him, trying to stop the eagles from reaching him. Retio reached the curtains and began climbing rapidly up them, using his claws to hold himself securely. Finally Sonic and Tails realized what he was trying to do, and they began to fight the eagles and prevent them from taking off. It was a Sisyphean effort, as the eagles they could not reach spread their wings and took off. They clawed at Retio. Retio slashed viciously at them, causing them to fall back.

"Skkkkkrreeeeeee!" screeched the black bird. "You shall not live!" But Retio had now reached the top, and took a pole that held up part of the tapestry. He swung it at the nearest eagle, causing it to fall to the floor with a crash. It did not get up.

The rest of the eagles took the hint and flew away, but hovered just out of the rod's range.  
Retio carefully walked out along the thin line of chain that led to Knuckles and Rouge. Reaching Rouge first, he ripped apart her gag her and slashed through her bonds. Rouge spread her wings and glided away, to help Sonic and Tails.

"Thanks!" she yelled, before plunging into the fray.

Next Retio freed Knuckles.

"Thanks!" he panted. He also flew down, and started bashing every bird in sight. The black bird stayed carefully away from the others. Sonic circled to him.

"Afraid to fight?" he taunted.

"No..." replied the bird. "I am waiting for you." He lunged.


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile, with Harry and Alene...

They raced down the twisting corridors, trying to catch up with Sonic and the others. After five minutes, they came to a huge set of double doors. They were bolted and locked with a large metal padlock.

Harry was still carrying Ewnon's sword. He inserted its tip into the lock and picked it. It fell to the floor with a clatter. Alene lifted the heavy bolt and shoved it away. The doors swung open.

There was no one in the large room. But there were signs of a struggle. Several spears lay abandoned on the floor, and the remains of a huge glass chandelier lay shattered in the center of the room. There was some blood near it.

Harry surveyed the mess. "I wonder what happened here?"

Alene knelt next to the chandelier. "Someone was trapped under here." She pointed to some bloody streaks on the stone floor. "But then they were dragged out."

"That was me," said a voice. Harry and Alene whirled around.

Standing in front of the open doors behind them was a black hedgehog. But it was not Shadow. Her spines fell to her waist, and were streaked with purple.

"My name is Starlight," said the hedgehog. "Your friends fought here and I lost." They noticed that her leg was in a splint. "But I am not here to fight you," she continued. "Your friends said that they were going to rescue Nine, who is with Kerrigan. Are you going to help them?"

"Well, of course!" said Alene. "Which way did they go?"

"They went into the courtyard out back," said Starlight, pointing. It was raining softly outside. From here a huge tower was visible. "They went up the stairs. But it's a trap."

"Then we have to help them! Kerrigan's known they were here since they entered! We know it's a trap!" said Harry impatiently. He and Alene turned and ran out into the courtyard.

"Wait for me!" called Starlight. They stopped and turned around. She walked, limping slightly, over to them.

"I may have a broken leg but I can still fight," she said determinedly. "Your friends showed me the true meaning of friendship, honor, and mercy. It's only fair that I help them too." She looked at them, and the look in her eyes told them she was going whether they liked it or not.

Harry nodded. They turned and entered the tower.

Meanwhile, at the top of the tower...

The black bird lunged at Sonic. Sonic rolled underneath him and just missed hitting him with a punch. The bird flipped elegantly and landed on his feet.

"So you can fight a little," admitted the bird. "But I am Skarlath. You shall not win!"

With those words he flapped his wings furiously, blowing feathers into Sonic's eyes so he could not see. Sonic frantically pulled the feathers out of his eyes, but by then Skarlath had swooped down and picked him up. He carried him higher and higher. Sonic could do nothing.

_He's going to drop me!_ realized Sonic.

Then Skarlath did drop him, but not because he had intended to. A rod had hit him squarely between the wings, and Skarlath dropped Sonic in pain. But Sonic did not fall. He was caught by Rouge instead.

"Don't get feathers in your eyes!" she lectured him as she put him down. Then she returned to the battle.

By now there were only two eagles still standing. Skarlath hovered about that battle and saw that it was useless to fight.

"SKKKRRREEEE!" he screeched. Then he flew away out the window angrily. Seeing this, the other two eagles followed him.

Sonic and the others stopped, panting. Tails sat down on the floor, exhausted.

Knuckles and Rouge looked around. "Where's Saermore?" Knuckles asked.

Retio looked sad. "He was taken."

"Oh," was all that Knuckles said. They sat in silence for a moment.

Suddenly the throne that had been sitting against the back of the far wall moved. It fell sideways, revealing a trapdoor covered with dust. The others stood up and walked curiously over to it.

It was made of polished stone and had a heavy iron handle. It took Sonic, Knuckles, and Retio just to lift it. Underneath there was a ladder leading down to darkness.

Retio grabbed two torches from the nearby wall. He handed one to Knuckles and started down the ladder. Sonic also took one and went down after Retio. Tails followed him, then Rouge, and lastly Knuckles bringing up the rear.

It was lucky they had brought the torches, for they soon lost sight of the light that had been coming in through the trapdoor. It was darker than the darkest night beyond the small area of light their torches gave off. The tunnel was smooth and cut deeply into the stone of the castle. Its polished surface reflected the light and made it seem like there were more people in the tunnel than just them. The effect was eerie, and the group stayed silent.

Suddenly they came to an abrupt halt as the passage ended. It branched directly to the right, but a faint glowing was coming from that way. Retio held his torch up, but he could not see what was making the glowing. The group continued forth.

As they got closer, they could see that the passage ended again, but this time there was no branch. Instead, there was a glowing mass of... something pulsing gently. It hovered about three inches off the ground and filled the corridor. Sonic thought he could almost hear it pulsing.

"Chaos!" hissed Knuckles. "I can smell it."

"It's a portal!" realized Retio. "But where does it lead to?"

Sonic studied the portal. It was flashing through various colors of the spectrum.

"Wait!" said Tails as Sonic stepped forward to the portal. "We don't know what happens. Why don't we try throwing a torch in first?"

Everyone agreed with this, so Sonic flung his torch in. There was a small flash of light, and the torch disappeared.

"Seems safe enough to me," said Sonic. "Don't portals usually work like that?"

"How should I know? I've never been through one," pointed out Retio. "But I suspect that we have no choice. It seems like Kerrigan is herding us here... if we go back I think we would find the trapdoor closed."

"Then we'll continue forward!" declared Sonic. Retio stepped into the portal and disappeared. Tails followed him, then Sonic, Rouge, and lastly Knuckles.

Sonic fell. He fell through air, then water, and then it seemed through solid rock. The back ground changed colors in the blink of an eye, and voices whispered all around him. Sonic could not hear what they were saying, but they were there.

Soon he landed softly on solid ground. He could not see the others through a grey mist. It was not raining, but the sky above was black. Small streaks of purple lightning flashed through it. The mist cleared a little and Sonic could see the rest of his friends. They regrouped. All around then grey mist swirled silently, blending in with the grey ground.  
"As far as I can tell, we're standing on a narrow strip of land next to a cliff. There's only one way to go - forward," whispered Retio.

Sonic looked back. The portal was still there.

The party continued forward boldly into the gray mist. They formed a single file line and moved slowly, careful not to fall off of the land strip. The purple lightning began to flash more and more frequently. Most were nervous.

They continued like this for what seemed like years, although it was really more like ten minutes. Then ahead the mist cleared, and they came to an island on the strip of land. In the center of it were two rectangular pools. The pool on the left glowed a dark blue, while the pool on the right glowed deeply green. The waters were serene, and both were made out of an odd sort of black stone. The pools were smooth and perfect.

Sonic and the others walked up to them curiously. The pools seemed harmless, although one could never know. Sonic looked into one and saw his reflection against the bottom of the black pool. It was like looking into a mirror, without the silver background.

"I think they're okay," said Sonic to the others. "But I would not touch them or drink from them."

The others gathered cautiously in front of the pools.

Sonic glanced in both pools. He saw only his reflection.


	9. Chapter 9

Tails looked into the green pool, started to turn away, and stopped. His reflection was moving, and he was not. Suddenly it seemed that the world around him vanished, replaced by a watery green color. Then it cleared and he found himself standing atop a platform. Millions of people were cheering, and Alene was right besides him gazing at him with an adoring look. Then Tails realized the people were cheering for him. He looked around, and he saw Sonic and Knuckles in the crowd, cheering as well.

He was bewildered for a second, and then slowly gave in to the crowd's adoration. He put an arm around Alene, his wife.

A small voice in the back of his head said, _Wife?_ But the crowd's cheering drowned it out. Tails smiled broadly and waved, causing a greater cheer. He was enraptured. This was what he had always wanted...

Knuckles studied the blue pool, examining himself. He was quite dirty from fighting and digging, and his face a little haggard from too little sleep. Then his image changed, and the world around him vanished.

He saw himself hugging Rouge, and watching their kids play. He saw himself trudging across a hot desert, forsaking all to find a Chaos Emerald. He saw himself rejecting Rouge, telling her he needed to be alone. He saw himself dominating the earth through the power of Chaos.

Knuckles struggled against this, but it was no use. Then came the worst of all.

He saw Rouge teetering on the edge an abyss from which there was no escape, and he pushed her ever so gently over, so she fell, screaming...

And the worst thing was, Knuckles knew that it all could be true...

Retio looked over the stone rim into the green pool, seeing how the waters stayed still even though he breathed on them. Instead, they fogged up as they would a mirror, and the fog spread... It obscured everything, and the land vanished.

Retio found himself in a wooden clearing. He heard a sound and whirled around. Behind him was Saermore.

_Saermore? Wasn't he taken?_ thought Retio. But then Saermore asked, "Want a match? Bet you can't beat me!"

"Oh yeah?" retorted Retio, rising to the challenge. "You're on!"

They play-fought, and Retio beat Saermore easily. They lay on the ground for a minute, panting.

"Hey Retio!" called a voice. Retio looked up. It was Gabriel.

"Your plan worked brilliantly! We won, all because of you! We're having a feast later, and you're the guest of honor!"

Retio got up. Saermore clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Good to be together again," he said, smiling. Retio grinned back, the cries of rejoicing and partying drowning out the voice in his head saying, _Gabriel is dead..._

Rouge looked at the pools. They were just pools! And yet she couldn't help but look into one, just to see how she looked... then the blue waters sucked her in like a vacuum.

She saw herself and Knuckles saying _I do_. She saw Knuckles hitting her, saying that he hated her and never loved her. She saw herself having all the jewels in the world and commanding the rest of the races with her power. She made them serve her. Rouge saw herself telling Knuckles she had never liked him in the first place...

And she saw herself shoving Knuckles out of the way, so that he fell into a pit of spikes while she eagerly grabbed a precious jewel.

Rouge cried out in fear and pain.

Sonic strode forward for a little bit after the pools, but stopped when he realized no one was following. He turned around, planning to ask something, but the words died in his throat.

There was no one there.

He ran back and looked around frantically. He looked into the pools, and even ran back a ways along the path. But there was no one there.

He walked slowly back to the pools. He had no choice. He must go on alone.

Sonic tried to go back the way he had come, but purple lightning flashed out from the clouds and struck the land strip leading from the island to the portal. It snapped, and a large piece fell out, preventing Sonic from going back. Now Sonic knew he was being herded forward, but he had no choice. The mists parted before him as he walked, but he still could not see for more than five feet ahead. The land strip became slippery, and soon all of Sonic's concentration was on keeping his balance. So he did not notice that the land strip came suddenly to an end.

Meanwhile, with Harry, Starlight, and Alene...

They rushed to the top of the tower, only to discover the remains of a battle. There were various eagles lying on the floor, some starting to wake up, shredded curtains (and a curtain rod), and many feathers. They noticed an open trapdoor near an overturned throne.

"They must have gone down here!" realized Harry. He grabbed two torches and gave one to Alene, who was finishing putting some salve on Starlight's leg. They started down the ladder.

They soon came to the same portal that Sonic and the others had, although they did not know this.

"Only way to go," said Harry, and he jumped in, followed by Starlight and Alene.

Harry, Alene, and Starlight ran as fast as they were able through the dark tunnel. Alene said nothing, but privately she was worrying about Tails. He was so sweet, and she would never forgive herself if something happened to him.

Soon they reached the glowing portal. Without hesitation, they all jumped through.

They found themselves falling, surrounded by millions of voices of lost souls... and then they landed gently in a gray world. The gray mist swirled around them as purple lightning flickered in the black sky.

"Careful," said Starlight. "The path is narrow here."

They walked, more slowly this time, until they came to a wide gap in the path. Beyond, a little way into the mist, they could see the outlines of two rectangular things.

"There's no way we'll be able to get across this thing," said Alene is despair. "It must have been broken on purpose! To prevent us from following!"

"Or to prevent someone from coming back," said Starlight ominously. Harry said nothing - he was studying the distance between the gap.

"Starlight," he said suddenly. She turned to him.

"Exactly how long is the bandage your leg is wrapped in?" he asked.  
Starlight immediately caught on to his idea. "I don't know..." Alene unwrapped it for her, being careful not to jar her leg. It looked to be fairly long, almost ten feet.

Harry took the thick cloth and tied it to the hilt of the sword he was still carrying. Then he threw the sword to the other side. They heard a thunk as it sank into the ground solidly on the other side.

The cloth was not long enough to tie to the other side, and even if it was, there was nothing to tie it to. Harry held one end while Alene carefully crossed, going hand over hand while hanging from the bottom of the makeshift rope. They all held their breath, afraid the sword would not hold, but Alene was light and crossed safely. Then it was Starlight's turn. Alene held the sword to make sure it wouldn't come out while Starlight crossed. The journey was made without incident.

Then it was Harry's turn. Obviously, he could not cross hand over hand, and as she looked back across the gap, Alene wondered how he was going to make it.

"Hold the sword really tight, both of you," ordered Harry. Once both girls had a tight grip on the weapon, Harry jumped off the land strip into the gap. The sword immediately began to slip out of Alene's grasp as the weight of the human pulled it down. Both girls struggled to maintain it as Harry slowly climbed up the cloth to the other side. Then they noticed the cloth stretching thin at one point. Thinner and thinner it got, and just as Harry reached the top, it snapped. Desperately Harry grabbed the edge with one hand as the cloth fell into the bottomless darkness.

Alene and Starlight managed to haul him up. Panting at their close encounter with death, they headed toward the small island that was now revealed.


	10. Chapter 10

With Sonic...

He came to the edge of the land strip and noticed too late. With a cry, he fell.

He landed with a thump on a large round platform. All around him black clouds flickered with purple lightning. There was no more gray mist.

A small laugh came from the center of the platform. Then Kerrigan appeared, and next to him was Shadow.

"Well..." said Sonic. "This saves me the trouble of looking for you."

"Very funny," said Kerrigan. He was staring at Sonic with a kind of hungry look.

"I suppose you're very confused right about now. You have no idea where you are, who I am, and what I can do or plan to do to you. A little explanation is required, I think. I shall try to simplify it enough so that your pitiful little mind can wrap itself around it."

He paused for a moment. "You have known of the brilliant scientist Professor Gerald Robotnik. He created more than you know of." Sonic nodded, not seeing where this conversation was headed.

"He was very interested in 'making people happy through the power of science.' Therefore he came up with the idea of the ultimate life-form. It would be perfect and flawless, the kind of person we'd always want to be but never could be." He laughed, a cold sound without humor. "Only a human could think such a thing! But he came close. Closer than he knew..."

"Right," said Sonic. "Shadow's the ultimate life-form, and the prototype was beaten up."

Kerrigan's piercing eyes bored into him. "No! That is what he wanted you to think. But you are wrong. So far from the truth." He gestured at Shadow. "He thought he was the ultimate life-form... but he was wrong. He was never a part of the ultimate life-form. He was merely part of an experiment to perfect Chaos Control, after the first failed."

Sonic's eyes widened. "What do you mean, first one failed?"

Kerrigan chuckled. "Ah, now I have your attention. You see, the first project of Chaos Control was meant to be part of the ultimate life form, but it was later dropped after its failure. Dr. Robotnik inserted certain genes into the DNA of a female hedgehog. I believe her name was... Marlyn. It was supposed to give her the ability to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds to warp time and space. But it failed. Marlyn showed no signs of being able to do such a thing, so the good doctor abandoned her. She was still alive, of course. Nine was created to try again to perfect these genes. And as you can see, the experiment worked. But, something happened that the professor did not intend."

Kerrigan stopped for a moment, his words hanging ominously in the air. Clearly he was enjoying the look of utter surprise on Sonic's face.

"Marlyn was married to another hedgehog. She had a son, and died shortly after his birth. The father soon disappeared as well, leaving the son to be raised by his uncle. The father's name was... Gabriel."

Sonic's mouth dropped open.

"And the child was named by his mother before she died. She named him... Sonic."

Sonic could not speak.

"Thus the Chaos Control gene was passed on... from mother to son... why else could you have used that fake Chaos Emerald? As soon as I heard of it, I knew then... I knew you were the one."

Kerrigan had a wide smirk on his face. "I have been around for a while, Sonic... before Gerald died, he created me."

His eyes flashed bright green. "Nine is not the ultimate life-form, and neither are you, Sonic."

He paused dramatically. "I am the ultimate life-form."

Sonic felt like Kerrigan had punched him hard. Too many revelations... all at once. Images were flashing through his head... Shadow falling to earth... Chaos Controlling out of the pod... the energy crackling around Harry as he flew back off of Kerrigan...

Kerrigan laughed again. "Now it makes sense, doesn't it? But there was only one thing wrong with me. Although I had been born with the power of Chaos, I had no ability to use Chaos Control. And that is where Nine comes in. While he was falling from ARK, I was watching. I knew he would not survive unless he used Chaos Control. So I... helped him a little bit. Since we both can use Chaos, I nudged his mind to have him Chaos Control out of there with the last of his strength. Then... he came here and joined me."

Sonic was deeply suspicious. "He would not have just joined you like that. You did something to him! What are you hiding?"

"Why would I hide from you?" asked Kerrigan. "All I need is you, Sonic. Your Chaos Control ability only works with the fake Emeralds, which, incidentally, have an enormous amount of explosive power if used right. Mine only works with the real Emeralds, as does Nine's. If we join, we can have both."

He looked to Sonic, and in his eyes there was no malice but pleading. "I will be the ultimate life-form! We will be perfect! We will bring to the earth and cosmos peace and prosperity, fulfilling the professor's wish! All you have to do is join willingly. I cannot force you to do this."

Suddenly Harry, Alene, and Starlight, who had heard the last few minutes, jumped down from the land strip.

"No, don't listen to him, he's lying!" cried Starlight.

"You think he can give all that to you?" asked Alene. "He's not the ultimate life-form, no one is!"

Other voices suddenly swirled around Sonic.

_Hey Sonic, this is your chance to be the hero!_ said Tails' voice.

_No! Remember the metiyas!_ objected Retio.

_Gabriel! Who do you think hired Hashlar?_ put in Saermore.

_Give the people a chance to be happy!_ It was Shadow's voice.

_It's Chaos... I know it... it can't be all that bad..._ said Knuckles thoughtfully.

_Don't trust him! He's about as honest as me with a jewel in mind!_ shouted Rouge.

The voices mixed together, shouting and yelling. Sonic's head whirled. Kerrigan stood calmly, but his hand was out reaching toward Sonic.

"Join," he commanded.

"There are more things resting upon your word than you know," said Kerrigan quietly. The voices that had been shouting around Sonic suddenly quieted.

But Sonic had already made his decision.

"No, Kerrigan," he said loudly. The world went still. "It is not possible to make the ultimate life-form. People may try, but people are not perfect, so how can they make something perfect? Nothing is perfect in the sense we think it is."

Kerrigan said nothing, but he trembled with rage. Then his eyes fixed on something over Sonic's shoulder, and he froze. A strange look came into his eyes, and Sonic could not identify it until he realized it was...

Fear.

Sonic turned, and he realized Kerrigan was looking at Harry. But why would he be afraid of Harry, of all people?

Harry was wondering much the same thing. Then, something in his mind clicked... something Kerrigan had told him...

_"Above all, Mr. Greene, you must not mention the word Maria to him. I have reason to believe it is something tied to his past and mention of the word would produce instant mind trauma..."_

_Maria!_ Harry thought. That was the key to Nine's release!

Evidently Kerrigan knew that too, for he sent out a bolt of pure Chaos straight at Harry. Harry ducked.

"Maria!" he yelled. He had no idea how this would help, but he yelled anyway.

Beside Kerrigan, the image of Nine flickered and vanished. The real Nine took its place, and it seemed to come out from Kerrigan. Kerrigan gasped in pain and sent another bolt of Chaos at Harry. This one didn't miss.

Then Starlight tackled Kerrigan. They both went down.

"Try to get him! I'll distract him!" shouted Starlight to Sonic and Alene.

"Nine! No!" shouted Kerrigan as he struggled to get a hand free so he could blast Starlight.

Sonic realized what he had to do.

"Shadow! Remember Maria! Remember what you promised! If you help Kerrigan, that won't happen!"

Nine shuddered, then cried out, sinking to his knees with his head in his hands. All heard a crack, as if of a tight string suddenly snapping. Kerrigan screamed. Nine looked up.  
Sonic saw something in his eyes. It was recognition.

Sonic almost collapsed in relief. But there was no time to do so now.

Kerrigan threw Starlight off him with sudden strength. He leaped to his feet, and there was a red madness in his eyes. Everyone could tell that he was no longer sane.

He screamed madly, and suddenly Saermore appeared. He looked dazed and obviously had no clue as to what was happening. Kerrigan grabbed him.

"You will regret your choice, Sonic!" he screamed. Then he snapped Saermore's spine.  
Kerrigan tossed the body aside like nothing, and then shot a deadly bolt of Chaos power directly at Sonic. It was aimed to split his head in two.

But it never reached its target.

Shadow threw himself in its path, and took the brunt of the hit. He slammed back against Sonic, and they both fell over Harry's body.

Sonic felt something hard digging into his back. It was in Harry's pocket. He felt for it and pulled out a fake Chaos Emerald.

He stared at it. How had Harry gotten a hold of that? But now was not the time to wonder. Kerrigan was advancing on him and Alene, who was backed up to the edge of the platform looked terrified.

Sonic knew what he had to do.

He used the power of the Chaos Emerald to transport everyone besides himself and his enemy out of the world. Then he faced Kerrigan, who was raving now.

"I'll kill every last one of you!" he screamed.

"I don't think so!" shouted Sonic. Then he reached inside the Emerald, not for the transporting power, but a different power.

"Final... CHAOS!" he yelled.

The world exploded.

Tails opened his eyes.

He was back on the space colony ARK.

For a moment he was utterly bewildered. Where was the gray world? And where was Sonic? He could see Rouge, Knuckles, and Retio, but no one else.

Then there was a blinding flash of light, and Harry, Alene, Starlight, Saermore, and Shadow appeared.

"What the..." exclaimed Tails. Everyone else was similarly astonished.

Then there was another flash, and Sonic appeared.

"Sonic!" cried Tails, but he rushed over to Alene and helped her up.

Sonic struggled up and crawled over to Shadow. Shadow's breath was coming in short, slow draws.

"I'm glad... I came out of it..." he gasped.

"No, no... you're going to be okay... you'll live..." soothed Sonic. Everyone else gathered around the pair.

Shadow shook his head weakly.

"Don't... try to... fool... me... I've... been around... for too long..."

"No, Shadow!" Tears gathered in Sonic's eyes.

"Listen... Kerrigan... transported me through... that world... so many times... that the healing effect no longer works... I was meant to die... in the space battle... but it was denied... of me... so don't... deny it now..."

Shadow smiled faintly. "I'm glad... we set things right... one... last... time..."

He closed his eyes. Then he opened them, and the look was of startling clarity.

"Maria!"

Then he said no more.

Sonic bowed his head. The world spun around him. He tried to get up, but failed and collapsed.

"Hey Sonic..." The voice got fainter and fainter, and the world went black.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_Blackness...death...  
why...  
why did it have to happen...  
for an end... this is fitting...  
wait...  
light... voices...  
air to breathe...  
life...  
I'm not dead yet!_

Sonic opened his eyes.

He was in the hospital ward. Through a window, he could see stars. That meant he was still on ARK.

"Great! You're up!" said Tails cheerfully.

"Tails... what happened?"

Tails looked concerned. "Don't you remember?"

Then it all came crashing back to him. The Chaos World... Kerrigan... Shadow...

Sonic bowed his head.

Tails sat next to him.

"I think he wanted to die. He missed Maria too much... if he had lived he would be miserable right now."

Sonic nodded. "I understand."

Then he thought of something. "What about Kerrigan?"

"Kerrigan? He's dead. You activated the explosive power of the fake Emerald, and blew him up. Fortunately, it transported you out in time."

Just then Saermore and Retio came into the room.

"Hi Sonic! We heard you're up!" said Saermore. He grinned, and he and Retio shared a look.

"Saermore... but I thought you were dead!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Remember the healing powers of the transport? It worked on me," said Saermore. "And Harry and Starlight too. They're both fine."

"Then why didn't it work on Shadow?" asked Sonic sadly.

"He said that he had been transported in and out of the world so many times that it not longer worked..." said Retio.

Sonic kicked the bed. "Darn it! It should have worked!"

Tails grabbed Sonic's shoulders. "Calm down! We found out that if you die in the Chaos World, you'll be okay in this one! Assuming that's where you originated!"

"Then we should have left Shadow to die in the Chaos World! How can I calm down?" asked Sonic angrily. "You expect me to calm down over the death of a friend?"

"Then we won't let you see a man who's been asking for you," stated Saermore.

Sonic stopped. "What?"

"He really wants to see you," said Retio, a slight grin on his face. He struggled to hide it. "And I think you want to see him too..."

"All right, I'm calm now. Look!" said Sonic, sitting down on the bed.

"Okay, he's on the second door to the left on the end of the hallway." pointed Saermore.

Sonic ran out of the hospital ward.

_"We found out that if you die in the Chaos World, you'll be okay in this one! Assuming that's where you originated!"_

Sonic had a sudden idea. But no, it couldn't be... could it?

He entered the room.

"Sonic!"

The smile on Sonic's face lit up the room.

**_THE END_**


End file.
